History or Geography taught through L2 - compulsory oral examination option
What the oral examination tests
In this option the candidate is examined orally in history or geography through L2. The examination therefore assesses two things at once: command of the subject's knowledge and concepts, and the ability to explain, argue and respond in L2. The examiner typically starts from a document, a map, a graph or a question drawn from the syllabus; the candidate presents for a few minutes and then answers questions.
Core rules and concepts
- Treat the document as evidence, not decoration: state its nature, origin, date, purpose and limitations before using it.
- In history, distinguish cause, consequence, change and continuity; avoid narrative without analysis.
- In geography, use spatial concepts such as scale, location, interaction and sustainability, and refer explicitly to the map or data.
- Structure the oral: a brief introduction of the question, two or three developed points with evidence, and a conclusion that answers the question.
- Use subject-specific vocabulary in L2, but prioritise clear explanation over ambitious phrasing.
Worked example
Document: a 1930s poster encouraging families to move to a newly built suburb. Question: "What does this source tell us about attitudes to housing in the period?"
Reasoning: First identify the source: a state-sponsored publicity poster, so it shows intended attitudes, not necessarily reality. Then analyse content: the family, the garden and the modern house construct an ideal of health, order and domesticity. Then contextualise: interwar housing policy, slum clearance and transport expansion. Finally evaluate: the poster omits cost and displacement, so it is evidence of official values rather than of lived experience. A weak answer describes the poster without asking who made it and why.
Traps
- Reading a prepared script and ignoring the examiner's questions.
- Describing the document without evaluating its provenance.
- Using L2 so cautiously that the subject argument becomes thin.
- Giving a list of facts with no answer to the question asked.